Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls Review and Discussion Questions:
Book: Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls
Author and Illustrator: Dav Pilkey
Pages: 237 (story 226, plus extras)
Published: August, 2019
Publisher: Graphix (Scholastic)
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Age Suggestion: 8+
Trigger Warnings: Loss of parent/bad parent
Quick Summary:
Dog Man and his friends face another challenge from a semi-new villain. Will Dog Man overcome his fear and, with his friends, save the day again?
Why your kid should read this book:
Dog Man is an incredibly popular series for early readers through pre-teen. Pilkey is an imaginative author and artist who has brought a unique and endearing character to life. In most of the books, Pilkey uses a backdrop of a classic work of fiction – one that kids would read in the upper grades of High school. In this book it is For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway. He will bring in quotes from these, and other imaginative references to movies and books. The books contain minimal objectionable material (some potty humor occasionally is thrown in) and artfully bring in moral lessons (see the discussion questions below).
For Whom the Ball Rolls Review:
This is the seventh Dog Man book. To quickly recap, a policeman and a dog were injured in an explosion. To save them the dog’s head was transplanted onto the man’s body. Thus Dog Man was born. He is still on the police force and reports to The Chief. Dog Man’s main foe was initially Petey the cat. Petey tried to clone himself and created the good kitten, Li’l Petey, instead. Li’l Petey has been a positive influence on Petey, who has been changing over the course of the series.
In the newest adventure, the villain is Dr. Scum. We have lots of time with our main characters. Some of the characters get less time. In a relatively short book, it is going to be hard to work in too many sub-plots. Dog Man is faced with overcoming his lack of focus (he likes to chase balls). Pilkey has discussed his ADHD growing up and I think this is definitely a nod to learning how to focus and remain creative for kids who have ADD/ADHD. Petey is pardoned and released from cat prison (this relates to his saving lives at the end of the last book). He continues his transformation. We also learn that Petey was abandoned by his father. Li’l Petey uses their super robot to find Petey’s dad. From here we learn that, at least in this book, not all cats are capable of positive change (this is the only place where a kid might have issues – if there was abandonment or other issues with dad).
Some favorite lines/scenes
-Petey talking to Li’l Petey about “Rainbows and unicorns and lillypops” versus “reality”
-Petey’s struggle to get Li’l Petey to sleep (I can see LOTS of parents relating to this one);
-“It’s not about who we’ve been. It’s about who we can become”;
-The chapter names (my two favorites are “The Old Man and the Sea Food Crackers” – a nod to another Hemingway book, and “The Very Hungry Ratapiller”
Dog Man can facilitate discussions on repentance and changing your life through the character of Petey. The concept of doing good, not just being good, is something that can be related to James 4:17.
Discussion questions:
- Dog Man has to learn to focus and ignore things that are tempting him. Have you have been distracted? Have you ever been tempted by the distractions to not do things you should – like homework or chores?
- Li’l Petey tells Dog Man that “It’s not enough to just be good – We gotta do good”. Whyat is wrong with knowing good but not doing anything about it?
- Who is your favorite superhero? Why?
- Which robot do you like best?
- Not all of the characters are superheroes. Which character is your overall favorite? Why do you like them the best?
- How does Petey prove to Li’l Petey tht he loves him?
- What was your favorite line in the book?
Favorite quote: From Li’l Petey…
“Love isn’t just something you feel…Love is something you do.”
If you enjoyed our For Whom the Ball Rolls review, check out some of our other graphic novel reviews below!
–DogMan Fetch 22
–Alls Faire in Middle School
–Awkward
–Space Boy Vol. 1 and Space Boy Vol. 2
–Cardboard
–Gear
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